Philippine fraud with milk products

Authorities in Manila claimed that they prevented an
attempt to convert smuggled animal feeds into milk "fit for human consumption"
when they seized a shipment stored in a number of Bulacan (Luzon)
warehouses.

Undersecretary Antonio Villar Jr, head of the Presidential Anti-Smuggling
Group (PASG), said the confiscated animal feeds, worth about P5 million
(€80,000), came from New Zealand and were meant to be used as an ingredient for
making animal feeds.

However, PASG operatives discovered over the weekend
the shipment inside a warehouse, where workers repacked the items to be
"converted" into milk.

A radio report said that the workers would then
stick labels indicating that they are milk products safe for human consumption,
with the words "essential for growing children, women, and elderly."

The
expiration date indicated in the milk products had also been altered to make
them appear consumable for the next two years.

Aside from the animal feed
ingredients, five other warehouses in the complex yielded other smuggled goods
like garments, threads, furniture, and even veterinary medicines, worth about
P50 million (€8 million).

The owners of all the six warehouses failed to
present valid import documents. Authorities yet hhave to check with the Bureau
of Food and Drugs (BFAD) if the animal feed contained melamine.

Last
week, the PASG also intercepted a shipment of milk products imported from
Ukraine that was supposed to be repacked.